Tight jeans, double D’s: The myth of big boobs

AA is non-existent, A is small, B is about a handful, C is on the larger side of average, D is big and DD is for porn stars, because that’s just huge, right? Wrong.

Ah, bra sizes. Confusing girls since the beginning of time and still continuing to do so, because we’re still so uneducated about proper sizing. Hearing the words “DD” will excite the boys and frighten the girls, but is it even that big of a bra size? And is it really so uncommon?

Having “big boobs” is actually all relative to band size. The letter in your bra size isn’t necessarily how big your boobs are, it’s just the amount of inches between your band and overbust size. For example, somebody who’s a 32DD actually has the same cup size as someone who wears a 36C, likewise with 28F and 34D, which are actually a lot more common than you think.

When you walk into any high street store, you’re conditioned into one way of thinking: A is the smallest bra size, and D is the biggest bra size. 32 is the smallest back size, and 38 is the biggest back size. These “core” sizes that we get are actually pretty uncommon when you think about it, because having an A-D cup means having 1-4 inches of a difference between your underbust and overbust. In reality, that’s not really that much.

So that’s us left thinking, if that’s all that’s available in high street stores then anything above a D must be enormous. But the bra sizing system was invented in 1932 (by a man) and it’s something that definitely needs to be looked at again.

I only started thinking about this when I got measured a few weeks ago, and I gawked at the sales assistant in disbelief when she told me my correct size. I thought to myself, “There’s not a hope in hell that my boobs can be that big!” And they’re not really “that big” because my back size is pretty small, society has just been conditioned into thinking that the letter means your boobs are huge. If anything convinces you to get fitted let it be this, my back size was two sizes too big for me and my cup size was two or three sizes too small. Yep, that’s how wrong I was about my bra size.

The media play a huge role in our opinion of what “big boobs” are. When you’re told that Katie Price is a 32DD after her boob job, you think that of course that’s right because 32 is the smallest and DD is the biggest. But that’s wrong, and Big Cup Little Cup have estimated that she was actually a 26JJ. Christina Hendricks is allegedly a 38DD, when she’s really more like a 30H. And Katy Perry? She also claims to be a 32DD, but in reality she’d fit into a 28GG according to this website.

So we’re all wearing the wrong size, because it’s more convenient than trying to find a needle in a haystack, or a 32DD in Penneys. And don’t even get me started on underwear models, that is not how your boobs are supposed to look in a bra. Anyone with the slightest bit of boob can tell you that there’s nothing comfortable about having them bulge out over the cups, and majority of these models are wearing the completely wrong size.

If you’re planning on getting measured after this you’ll probably be horrified and then maybe even pleasantly surprised at your new bra size – I know fifteen year old flat chested me was anyways. But remember that D+ doesn’t necessarily mean huge, and it’s a lot more common than you think. If your eyes have been warped by underwear models wearing the wrong sized bra, check out The Bra Band Project and have a look through the properly fitted sizes. It should help when you’re trying to figure out what size best fits you.

3 thoughts on “Tight jeans, double D’s: The myth of big boobs”

This was a great post to read because I swear most people don’t understand that it’s all proportionate! I’m a 32F and I hate trying to find bras because it’s like shops assume anyone that’s a 32 is around a D and if not, they must have a larger back size! Bra shopping sucks! xx

I have always been measured in one of those fancy bra stores that sell the good bras and I know how to measure myself also. I’ve been the same size since about the age of 16 and now I am 20! But a great post and I have to agree that a lot of us are uneducated about bra sizes.